Splash of Pink
by Da Cute Snowbunny
Summary: CH 3- "Professor Dumbledore, what house is Harry Potter in?" she asked quietly. "Gryffindor." he replied, an amused smile on his face. Sakura's stomach did a little somersault. SaiSaku NarutoxHP Crossover.
1. Hogwarts

**Splash of Pink**

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Disclaimer: I only dreamed of owning Naruto and Harry Potter. If that happened, I would be the richest woman in the entire universe. :)

I hope you guys like it!

* * *

_Thoughts_

_"Speech in a different language"_

* * *

- Chapter One -

"I think you should put some colour in there." Sakura suggested while pointing to a spot on the canvas.

"That would totally ruin the mood." the artist countered.

"But it's all black and white." she said with a slight frown, a whiny edge to her voice. Sai finally looked up from his painting and turned to his companion.

"There's grey." he told her bluntly. His companion resisted the urge to groan.

"But it's _boring_." Sakura said with slight exasperation. Sai gave her a blank look before going back to his painting of a waterfall done in black, white, and _grey_.

* * *

Standing in front of the Hokage's desk, the two ninjas waited patiently for the Hokage herself to show up. The two of them had been summoned by the Hokage for a mission briefing, although Sakura found it a little strange. It wasn't that strange for them to go on a mission together, but it was rare that it was _just_ the two of them. They usually went in teams of three or four, and sometimes even more.

Upon hearing the door slam open, they turned and greeted Tsunade, who nodded curtly to acknowledge them as she walked briskly to her desk, followed by her pig Tonton.

"As you are both aware, you have been summoned for a mission briefing." Tsunade spoke, looking at the two shinobi for confirmation. Both of them nodded.

"Recently, a bizarre request came in." she started slowly. Curiosity sparked in Sakura, but she said nothing and waited for Tsunade to elaborate.

"A man by the name of _Albus Dumbledore_ has requested two of my shinobi to help retrieve an item for him. As to what the item is, he did not say."

"Tsunade-shishou, that's an English name..." Sakura echoed, a look of confusion crossed her face.

"Our client is the headmaster of a school called _Hogwarts_, which is located in _Scotland_." Tsunade explained. Sakura's eyebrow rose as she turned to look at Sai, who appeared indifferent after hearing that.

"Shishou, how did he find us? And can we even trust someone that we know nothing about?" Sakura asked wearily, not getting good vibes from this mission.

"He contacted me through my crystal ball. He _somehow_ managed to establish a connection. It was apparent he's British, but he speaks very fluently in Japanese. He has introduced himself to me, and has clearly explained his request. I can't explain it to you, but you know you can trust him." Tsunade finished somewhat lamely, not quite meeting their eyes. Sai thought it was a poor excuse for hiding the fact Dumbledore probably offered her a large amount of money. He looked over at Sakura, and knew she thought the exact thing.

"Hokage-sama, this may be a good way to establish international connections, but how do we get to _Scotland_? We don't know even where the country is." Sai pointed out, his fake smile in place.

"That, has already been arranged. All I need to know now, is whether the two of you accept the mission or not. I warn you right now, this mission will be a year long S-ranked mission." Tsunade warned.

Sai appeared unfazed while Sakura's eyes widened slightly.

"S-ranked?" she echoed faintly.

"Sakura, I know you registered for the Jounin exams, but I can't allow you to participate just yet. This will be a better alternative for you. This mission will be one year long, and it will give you lots of time to think things over." Tsunade said, her hazel eyes softening slightly. Sai noticed Sakura had stiffened a little at being turned down from taking the exam, the confusion showing on her face.

"Hai, I understand." Sakura replied with an edge of bitterness to her voice. It didn't make sense that her shishou would prevent her from advancing in the shinobi ranks, and instead, send her on an S-rank mission that she technically shouldn't be qualified to accept.

"Tsunade-shishou, what kind of school is _Hogwarts_?" she asked. Tsunade gave a relatively sly smile.

"I thought you'd never ask." Sakura's brow furrowed, not liking her mentor's tone of voice at all.

"For the next year, you two will be attending _Hogwarts_, _the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_." Tsunade spoke slowly, making sure her words had sunk in. Sakura had a look of disbelief on her face while Sai had his unreadable pokerface in place.

"Magic _exists_?" Sakura managed to get out, her jaw dropping slightly.

"Tsunade-sama, how are we um... expected to perform magic?" Sai asked politely, though you could hear the doubt in his question.

"In their country, the magic they use is actually the spiritual energy we use to mold chakra with. Their means of channelling that energy is through a medium called a _wand_. You were trained to combine spiritual energy and physical energy, but for magic to work, you need to focus on gathering only spiritual energy. _Wands_ are made so they can amplify and transmit spiritual energy into their so called spells and curses." Tsunade explained.

There was a moment of silence as the information the Tsunade just told them slowly digested in their brains. The disbelief was still strong, but Sai and Sakura each thought carefully about the mission.

"I accept this mission." Sai confirmed after a while, his face completely blank. Sakura looked at him with surprise because of how calm he managed to remain the entire time. Not wasting anymore time deliberating, Sakura also gave her answer.

"Shishou, I also accept this mission." Sakura said determinedly. Tsunade beamed at the two of them and clapped her hands together.

"That's great to hear! On another note, you two are can't reveal to the other students your mission and the fact that you're ninjas. If asked, say you are from Japan. Meet here tomorrow at 7 o'clock sharp. Dismissed!" the two of them nodded.

* * *

"Sai, how the hell did you manage to stay so calm?" Sakura asked casually as the two of them sat by the waterfall again, Sai working on his painting once again.

"Promise you won't be mad?"

"Promise." she replied, wondering why she would be in the first place.

"Tsunade-sama had lightly gone over the mission with me earlier." he replied, and tensed up, preparing for the explosion. Even though he made her promise, there was no guarantee she still wasn't going to blow up on him.

"WHAT! So you were just pretending?!" she exploded, looking at him incredulously. Sai had expected this reaction.

"You said you wouldn't be mad." he reminded her. He saw -out of the corner of his eye- Sakura looking skywards, mentally counting down in her head to calm herself down.

"Why would she do that? And why didn't you warn me?! Hell, _why_ Shishou stopped me from taking my exam is my biggest question." Sakura fumed, crossing her arms and pouting in anger. Sai didn't reply immediately. Instead, he concentrated hard on getting the texture of the water just right.

"Hokage-sama specifically told me not to say anything to you. Also, she's _worried_ about you." Sai finally answered, his voice becoming soft near the end.

Sakura's eye lids drooped slightly and sighed. She pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. "I knew that, but I just want to prove to myself that I can catch up to Naruto and Sasuke...-kun." she confessed gloomily, hesitating at the honorific after Sasuke's name.

Since their last Sasuke retrieval mission had failed, both Naruto and Sakura had trained very hard, in hopes of catching up to Sasuke. However, Naruto in more or less the same way as Sasuke, learned and trained better while abroad. Sakura was once again left behind.

It was depressing, to always have to be the one left behind. As Sai was the only remaining member of Team 7, he took it as his role to keep his fellow teammate company and most of all, _happy_. Unless he wanted Naruto to grill his ass.

"Sakura, you've changed a lot since-"

"Not enough obviously, if I'm stopped from taking the Jounin exams!" she exclaimed almost hysterically. Tears of frustration pricked at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Sai quietly observed the girl, who started taking her frustration out on the grass by pulling them up in tufts.

Sai decided to drop the topic, as it was clearly upsetting her. He had made a promise to Naruto before he left again for his training, and he intended to keep it until Naruto returned.

_I promised to keep her happy_.

* * *

At 7 o'clock sharp the next day, the two shinobi arrived at the Hokage tower. Tsunade almost had a wistful expression when she saw Sakura.

Sakura smiled weakly. "Shishou, I promise to take care of myself! Plus, it'll be a chance for me to learn some new things. This mission _will_ be a success." she said with a confident gleam in her eyes.

"As the leader of this mission, I will do my best to make sure this mission succeeds." Sai said expressionlessly, the same look of determination in his inky eyes.

Tsunade smiled lightly. "Well, as the two of you are clearly prepared, I have nothing more to say." She pulled out from her drawer what looked to be a very old and dirty hat that was patched and frayed in several spots.

"_Dumbledore_ sent this to me by the means of an owl. He explained in his note that all you need to do is touch it. It's called a _Portkey._" Tsunade explained, feeling a little overwhelmed and confused herself.

_This will be by far, the strangest mission I'll have the honour of doing. _Sakura thought, before touching the hat in unison with Sai. At once, a strange force glued her hand to the hat as the room around her swirled and blurred out of sight.

_I think I'm going to be sick_.

_To be continued..._


	2. Wands

**Splash of Pink**

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Holla! So, I'm not dead :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only dreamed of owning Naruto and Harry Potter. If that happened, I would be the richest woman in the entire universe. :)

I hope you guys like it!

* * *

_Thoughts_

_"Speech in Japanese"_

"Speech in English"

* * *

- Chapter Two -

There was a knock on the door before a silver-haired man let himself in the room. The blonde haired Hokage looked up from her papers with an annoyed expression on her face, ready to tell the person off until she saw who had barged in.

"This is rather unexpected Kakashi. What do you want?" Tsunade asked briskly, going back to her paper work. Kakashi stopped just in front of her desk, his stance appearing tense.

"Tsunade-sama, I know this isn't my business. But... why did you send Sakura on that mission?" Kakashi asked quietly, staring into her amber eyes. Tsunade sighed, then turned around in her chair to look out her window.

"You're right, it isn't any of your business. But, I understand that you're only concerned about her." Tsunade started.

"I know you're well aware she had signed up for the Jounin exams. You and I both know what her strengths and weaknesses are. I can't allow her to take it just yet. So, I gave her an alternative."

"That could be even more dangerous than the exam?" Kakashi asked, a slight edge to his voice. Tsunade bit her bottom lip.

"Sakura's the only medic I can dispatch at the moment. Plus, I think Sakura deserves some time away from this village." Tsunade muttered, looking at the bustling streets of Konoha. Kakashi's eye furrowed a little, confusion showing in his lone eye.

"Hokage-sama, I'm afraid I don't understand."

Tsunade sighed. "Sakura has always been watching her teammate's backs. Having both her teammates leave her behind made her believe she wasn't good enough. I can't have her taking the Jounin exams with that sort of outlook. It would be better for her to leave and do a little growing on her own. In any case, what can stick wielding magicians do? They're way too slow." Tsunade explained, giving her opinion on wizards as an afterthought.

Kakashi was quiet for a bit, thinking over Tsunade's explanation before pointing out another issue. "But Hokage-sama, are you sure it was wise to send Sai with her? With his ROOT background-"

"Sai's loyalties are still questionable, but he made a promise to Naruto he intended to keep and I'll take his word for it." Tsunade cut in confidently.

"He would keep her _happy_."

* * *

Sakura thought it would never end.

This had got to be the worst method of long-distance travel ever. She had felt Sai banging into her, as the two of them hurtled through space towards their destination.

And just as suddenly, the swirling stopped and her feet touched the ground firmly. The sudden impact caused her and Sai to fall forward, barely able to catch their falls. The room swam in and out of focus before her eyes. Looking to her side, she noticed Sai was shaking his head, trying to clear his head.

"Why hello there. Rough journey?" an old man asked kindly. Surprised they haven't sensed the old man's presence, their heads snapped up to look. An old man wearing long dark navy robes with startlingly white long beard and hair greeted them. His nose was crooked, vaguely reminding Sakura of a staircase. His light blue eyes surveyed them behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Would you be _Albus Dumbledore_?" Sai asked in a business-like fashion, as he stood up to brush imaginary dust from his clothes. Dumbledore nodded his head once in confirmation.

"Yes, that would be me. I'm sure your ah- Hokage, explained how I have come in contact with you? As I'm sure your Hokage would have also explained to you, I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." he said with a kind smile. Although she had just met Dumbledore for a grand ten seconds, she felt like she could trust the man.

It had also just dawned on Sakura that Dumbledore spoke fluently in Japanese. As if he had read her mind, he turned towards her with a gentle smile on his face.

"Learning different languages had been a past time in my youth."

Sakura nodded a little, returning his smile with a small one of her own. The room they were in appeared to be an office, but it was filled with many strange things. There were instruments all around the circular room on top of spindly-legged tables that Sakura has never seen before in her life. Sakura wasn't sure if she had been hallucinating or not, but she swore the people in the paintings all around room were moving. Several times she thought they were looking directly at her and Sai.

"Dumbledore-san, Hokage-sama has explained to us our mission was to retrieve an important item for you, but you haven't disclosed it with her." Sai spoke again, getting back on topic.

"Ah, yes. There is an item I wish you two to retrieve for me. However, it is not time for it yet. When the time comes, I will reveal that to you." Dumbledore explained, sounding almost mysterious.

Both Sai and Sakura's eyes widened a little in confusion; the same thought running through both their minds. _Is this some kind of joke?_

"Apart from this, I also wish for you to play the role of a protector for a student in this school." Dumbledore said, seriousness in his eyes.

Sai and Sakura gave each other a look, with a single thought running through their minds. _Why would he want us to protect a certain student?_

"As of now, a man by the name of _Lord Voldemort_ had recently returned. He is known to us as the darkest and most feared wizard out there. Many still refuse to believe of his return, but he is without a doubt back. Inevitably, his return would endanger the entire muggle and wizarding world. " Dumbledore spoke, his tone grave.

_Why does he sound like a wizard version of Orochimaru, only with a dumber name. _Sakura thought to herself.

"If _Lord Voldemort_ is so dangerous, shouldn't we protect all the students?" she asked Dumbledore, a look of confusion on her face.

"That is a good point. But this certain student unfortunately, has a peculiar connection with_ Voldemort_, that could endanger himself and the others around him." Dumbledore explained, but almost cryptically.

"Who is it that you wish we protect?" Sai asked.

"_Harry Potter_."

* * *

"Sai, am I dreaming?"

"Would you like me to do a reality check for you?"

"On second thought, I think I'm quite awake." Sakura said, warily eying Sai's arms in case he decided to attack her. Sai smiled politely.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to attack you."

"Uh-huh."

After spending what seemed like forever in Dumbledore's fascinating office, Sai and Sakura were given instructions to go shopping for wizard things, after having discussed all the important matters. The two were supposed to pose as fifth year students attending Hogwarts in order to fulfill their roles as guardians. After having some sort of charm placed on them, it had allowed the two of them to speak and understand English, enabling them to communicate with the rest of the community.

With special instructions, the item the two were seeking was the most important thing a wizard would need in order to perform their magic.

A _wand_.

Everything else had already been generously prepared for them by the Headmaster. Despite being incredibly nervous about the prospect of becoming a witch and wizard, Sai and Sakura strolled down the busy streets of Diagon Alley in search of the wand store.

_"It would be very difficult to get lost. But if in doubt, ask anyone. They would be glad to lend a hand."_ Dumbledore had said. But true to his word, it hadn't been hard to find the small shop.

They had come to realize, it had only felt challenging because there were _so_ many things to look at, they couldn't focus on one direction. To Sakura, this mission was starting to feel more like a vacation rather than a dangerous S-ranked mission.

Entering the little shop, a bell tinkled somewhere, signaling the arrival of customers.

"Ah, so you're the special students Dumbledore had told me about?" a misty voice spoke, causing Sakura to jump a little bit.

It unnerved Sai how he couldn't sense any of these people. Their chakra systems obviously wasn't like that of a ninja's. Sai couldn't grasp how these people could be very dangerous, having to rely on a piece of wood to do all the fighting.

"We were told to get our wands." Sai said, holding out a slip of parchment, which was a note from Dumbledore. Reading it quickly, the man smiled at them, and introduced himself as Mr. Ollivander.

"Well then, who's first?" he asked cheerfully, his glassy eyes looking between the two. Sai stepped forward automatically, giving the man a fake smile. Smiling even broader, Mr. Ollivander took out what looked to be a tape measure, and started making measurements after asking which his wand arm would be.

_**Wow, getting a wand seems like a complicated process, if they have to get THAT many measurements.**_ Inner Sakura commented, and Sakura agreed. What did the distance from the forehead to the knees have to do with getting a _wand_? Length of the arms, that was understandable. But, seriously?

Before you knew it, Mr. Ollivander had Sai waving different kinds of wands. Sai felt foolish, waving a stick of wood around. None of them had done anything yet, but it worried him. Was he expected to perform a spell? Was he supposed to channel any energy into the wand?

Sai opened his mouth to ask if he needed to perform some kind of spell, but Ollivander just simply encouraged him to wave the wand.

"Eight and a half inches, oak, containing one unicorn hair, and rather sturdy." Ollivander told him, rather quickly and urged Sai to wave it.

A slight breeze seemed to have picked up, but it wasn't what Mr. Ollivander had been expecting, for he had snatched the wand back quickly.

_**Is Mr. Ollivander expecting some kind of magical miracle? But on second thought, are we even magical?**_ Inner Sakura asked herself, only to receive no answers.

_I don't know, but we must have _some_ potential. Otherwise, Dumbledore would have just sent us back. _Sakura replied.

She watched Sai wave yet another wand, -she had to keep herself from laughing- it made a patch of his hair flip. Ollivander had restored it easily with his own wand.

_**Those wands obviously aren't compatible with Sai.**_ Inner Sakura sniggered.

Then, after what seemed like the eighth wand, something strange happened. (Eleven inches, Ebony, tail feather of a Phoenix, and relatively flexible.) As Sai waved the wand, a jet of ink shot out the wand tip, turning into ink butterflies and fluttering away. Mr. Ollivander looked incredibly excited, and congratulated Sai on finally getting his wand. After reminding him that it's the wand that chooses it's owners, not the otherway around.

Sakura thought it was highly comical that small sticks of wood were able to choose its owners.

"Getting a wand is quite exciting." Sai commented airily as he walked towards her, studying his wand with curiosity. Sakura smiled and stepped up, ready to get her own wand, hoping she wouldn't have to take as long.

Like with Sai, her measurements were taken as well, though if they were relevant at all, she had no idea. Ollivander barely glanced at the measurements and he already started rapidly pulling out boxes and boxes of wands, acting extremely happy about doing so too.

_Won't he have a hell of a clean up job afterwards?_ Sakura thought to herself, staring at the mountain of wands pulled out.

"Try this. Ten and a half inches, Kaya, containing Unicorn hair and fairy wings, and pretty swishy. Strange combination, but works all the same." Ollivander explained, giving Sakura an encouraging look. Doing as he said, Sakura gave the wand a slight wave, and boy it surprised her. The wand shot right out of her hand and hit the wall in front of her. Sakura and Sai both stared at the hole in the wall with their mouths ajar, slightly frightened.

"Oh dear, a strong one I see." Ollivander muttered excitedly, not even upset that his wand had just made a hole in his wall as he passed Sakura another wand.

Almost afraid, Sakura gave it a small wave. Nothing happened, so Ollivander snatched it away and quickly replaced it with a mahogany coloured wand with a stiffer feel.

"Eleven inches, mahogany, dragon heartstring core, and sturdy." Sakura was about to wave it, but Ollivander quickly took it back, as if already sensing oncoming danger.

"Try this one instead. "Ten and three-quarter inches, willow, with unicorn hair as the core. Quite springy."

As if Ollivander had been psychic, this wand seemed to have done the trick. A sudden warmth surged from the wand and enveloped Sakura, as pink and silver lights shot from her wand tip and swirled around her before dissolving. Her mouth opened in awe, and she couldn't help but grin afterwards.

"And the wand has finally found its wielder." Ollivander said in his misty voice before bowing to his customers and bid them good day.

"Well Sai, at least one of us didn't have to take forever getting chosen." Sakura said cheekily as she walked past him.

* * *

_"Ouch! Sai! You just jabbed me with your wand!" _

_"Oh, sorry. I was trying to see if I could make you less ugly." _Sai replied innocently. Sakura fumed, and cracked her knuckles. To avoid sounding like idiots in public, they had decided to speak in Japanese, just so people wouldn't give them anymore funny looks.

After all, Sakura still had pink hair.

And was pounding Sai to the ground with her bare hands.

_To be continued..._

* * *

So while I was editting this, I decided to give Sai and Sakura some more info on their charge. But yeaah, please review and tell me what you think!


	3. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

**Splash of Pink**

* * *

Holla! It has been a while since I updated this! I apologize for the wait, but I hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I only dreamed of owning Naruto and Harry Potter. If that happened, I would be the richest woman in the entire universe. :)

I hope you guys like it!

* * *

_Thoughts_

"Normal speech"

_"Certain words/phrases spoken in a different language."_

* * *

- Chapter Three -

"Sai, you're waving your wand wrong." Sakura told him, and showed him the correct way to do it. Sai nodded and tried to work the spell again.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

The feather he was supposed to levitate floated a couple of inches above the table before it floated back down again.

-sigh- "Concentrating just spiritual energy is hard." Sai admitted as he stared at the feather. He looked over at Sakura and saw her make the feather float around her as if it was swimming.

"I find it alright. I'm better at Charms than at Defensive spells." she said with a smile on her face as she continued to make the feather float around.

"I can draw about ten lions in the time it takes to say and cast the spell." Sai grumbled, looking at his wand with boredom.

Since the two were to pose as Hogwarts students, they obviously needed to know magic and be able to keep up with the classes. Picking the subjects they would take for the year, the two learned everything off their spell books with the occasional supervision from the Headmaster. They were also exempted from taking the OWLs at the end of year, which was an extremely important wizarding exam. Not that they needed it very much anyhow.

However, they only had a month to learn everything that most students learned in the span of four years. Therefore, a Smartening Draught had been concocted especially for them. It didn't fill their brains with information, but it allowed them to take in information much faster. They were able to cover two year's worth of spells and magical knowledge in two weeks. They were only allowed to use it until the term begins, since the use of this potion was technically not allowed.

"I know Sai. In the time it takes to do all this, I could have taken all the enemies out with my fists. I like being a ninja better." Sakura said. She stuck out her tongue as she concentrated hard on turning her snail into a tape measure.

The two were currently staying in the school of Hogwarts. Dumbledore had kindly let them stay in a Prefect's dorm. They had been given a tour of the castle and where certain common rooms were. As tradition, first year students were sorted into the school houses. To keep with tradition, Dumbledore decided to have them sorted, to be fair. Instead of being sorted with the first years, Dumbledore would be sorting them the day before.

"I wonder what House I'll be in." Sakura wondered aloud, giving another try at turning her snail into a tape measure.

"Hopefully in _Harry Potter's_ house. That way we could protect him better." Sai said, and he started transfiguring his snail as well. With a swish and a flick, his snail turned into a round little tape measure.

"How do you _do_ that?" Sakura exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air in defeat.

* * *

"I hope your studies have went well." Dumbledore said, a small smile on his face. Sai and Sakura both nodded.

"Good! Well, the only thing left is to sort you into houses. No matter which house you end up in, you will still be able to complete your mission. Now, please step up and try on the hat." Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eyes. Sai and Sakura looked at each other.

_**A hat is supposed to tell me what house I belong in? **_Inner Sakura said doubtfully. However, upon stepping closer to the hat, they realized it was the portkey they used to get to the castle.

Taking the lead per usual, Sai stepped up and took the hat from Dumbledore's hand and put it on. The hat was very big and fell over Sai's eyes.

_"Hmm, a very cunning mind indeed." _a voice spoke in Sai's ear. His body visibly tensed.

_"Calm down, it's me, the hat that you're wearing." _the hat said casually.

_"I can see everything that goes on in your head. You're extremely loyal to your comrades I see. So you think you have no emotions eh? Interesting... You're bright, no doubt about that. Brave, and you value friendship a lot. You seem to fit in everywhere." _the hat said to him. Sai was surprised beyond words.

Sakura watched Sai curiously. She noticed he had tensed at one point, but then relaxed. What was Sai supposed to do? Was something supposed to happen to the hat, like when they had to get their wands?

Then suddenly, the rip in the hat opened up like a mouth and said in a booming voice, "_Gryffindor!"_

Sakura jumped just a little. She knew Gryffindor was one of the school houses, but what it valued, she never found out. Dumbledore said the hat would explain later, better than he could. Sakura was doubtful about that.

"Your turn." Sai told her quietly and handed her the hat. Nodding, she put the hat on, which slipped right over her eyes. She waited patiently for something to happen.

_"Hmm, another ninja?"_ a little voice murmured in her ear. Sakura had to refrain herself from ripping the hat off her head. Was this the reason Sai tensed?

_"You catch on quite quick. Brilliant mind. Ravenclaw would suit you very well. Hmm, similar to the boy. Very brave, and deeply value friendship. Hmm, powerful drive for power eh? Want to prove yourself to everyone? Hm..." _the hat continued to say in her ear, pointing out her qualities to himself. As if it had been forever, the hat finally said its answer.

_"Slytherin!"_

Sakura took off the hat and gave it back to Dumbledore, who had a smile of amusement on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura asked curiously.

"This is very... interesting. I'm not disappointed in either of you for the houses you've been sorted into. Just, an old man's curiosity, at how things will turn out." Dumbledore said, but only received blank looks.

"Regretfully, the houses Gryffindor and Slytherin are to say, not the best of friends." Dumbledore said politely. Sakura's stomach dropped a little. She had a feeling what Dumbledore was hinting, as did Sai.

"Professor Dumbledore, what house is _Harry Potter_ in?" she asked quietly.

"Gryffindor." he replied, an amused smile on his face. Sakura's stomach did a little somersault.

* * *

Sakura sat beside Sai in front of the fire, watching him draw. The start of year banquet was due to start later that evening. They have been told a teacher would be sent to take them down into the Great Hall.

"I'm sorry." Sakura murmured to Sai, who merely continued to draw a picture of what looked like the Hogwarts' coat of arms.

"What for?" he asked softly, not looking at Sakura.

"I should have requested to be in the same house as _Harry Potter._ Now it'll be harder for us to protect him." Sakura said, a guilty look on her face. Sai didn't respond for several moments.

"It wasn't your fault. Plus, this could be advantageous for us. If what Dumbledore-san said was true, then at least one of us could keep an eye out on the enemy." Sai said, a small smile playing on his lips as he looked over at Sakura, who returned it with a weak smile of her own.

"Plus, I can always send my ink animals to communicate with you." Sai added. The door to the common room opened and a short man walked in.

"Good evening! I'm Professor Flitwick, and I will be taking you two to the Great Hall, so please follow me!" the small man squeaked and walked back out the door. Getting up, the two followed the small teacher.

_"He's so... short." _Sakura commented behind Flitwick's back.

_"He looks like an elf." _Sai added, his head slightly tilted. Sakura tried to stifle the giggles that followed that comment.

_"These robes are pretty comfy, but they'd be a hindrance in battle." _Sakura noted, tugging slightly at the baggy sleeves.

_"But great for hiding weapons." _Sai pointed out, and showed Sakura the kunais he had strapped to his arm. Sakura merely raised an eyebrow, but otherwise decided to ignore the fact Sai was armed for no reason.

It wasn't like Orochimaru would be jumping down from the sky or anything.

* * *

Sakura was awed by the number of students that actually attended the school. It was a sight to behold alright. Moreover, the Sorting Hat was actually such a clever little thing. Although she didn't understand too much of its speech, it did hint that the school houses needed to stick together.

For the first time since she's arrived in the wizarding world, she met her charge: Harry Potter. She noticed he was rather close with a bushy haired girl and a red-haired boy. Although Dumbledore had filled them in on all the basic things about Harry, she still needed to know the boy better. Being in the opposite house would only make befriending him more difficult in her case. Currently, she and Sai stood in an entrance way that lead to the Great Hall, waiting to be introduced. Sakura felt nervous, wondering what the other students would think of her pink hair.

Too bad Dumbledore refused to let her change the hair colour.

_"Sakura my dear, your pink hair is a beautiful sight to behold."_

"One last thing before we tuck into our excellent feast. It's Hogwarts' pleasure to welcome two transfer students that wish to study abroad. Would our two new students please come out and join us, Sai and Sakura!" Dumbledore said cheerfully as he gestured towards the two. Nervously, Sakura walked behind Sai, who had plastered his fake smile onto his face.

The two slowly walked over to stand at the ends of their respective house tables. Sakura felt all the students were gawking at her abnormally coloured hair. She heard snippets of conversations like, "I never knew we accepted transfers!" or "Look at her _hair_!"

_"Great, I feel like some kind of circus entertainer."_ Sakura thought unenthusiastically.

The entire school broke into an applause to welcome them, but the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were especially the loudest. Amongst the cheering, Sakura heard a couple cat calls made out to her, which she had ignored. Her fellow housemates ushered her to sit down with them. Looking over at Sai, she noticed the same was being done to him as well. She ended up sitting down between a short, brown-haired girl and a blond boy who looked a few years her junior.

Every once in a while, a student from another table would get up to look at her. She wasn't hard to spot among the sea of black robes, since her pink hair was quite stunning. A few of the students had asked her if she was a Metamorphmagus, but she didn't have a clue what that was. She settled for saying she was a natural pinkette. However, she wasn't the only one getting attention. She noticed Sai had also become quite popular. She could tell his smile was pretty strained. Throughout the feast, Sakura would periodically look over at the Gryffindor table trying to catch Sai's eye, but he was too swarmed by students to even spare her a glance.

Several times during her meal, other fellow Slytherins would come up to introduce themselves to her. A blond boy with two thuggish looking boys came up flanked by two thug-like boys, giving her the image of a yakuza boss and his bodyguards.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sakura. The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. These two here are Crabbe and Goyle." the blond boy introduced, pointing to the boys respectively as they were introduced.

"Nice to meet you too." Sakura replied politely. The boy had very sharp features, and almost had an air of aristocracy around him.

"I am the Prefect of Slytherin- Draco casually waved to the shiny badge on his robe- and if you ever need any help, don't hesitate to ask." he said, sounding quite smug. The way he presented himself with all the superiority, reminded her strongly of Ino. Sakura was almost tempted think Draco was a male version of the blond pig. His smile even looked like an arrogant smirk instead.

Sakura forced a smile back. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks." With that, Draco and his bodyguards walked away. Sakura looked over at the Gryffindor table, only to find Sai still surrounded by a crowd of people. It amused her how most of them were females.

_"I hope Harry Potter is in that crowd." _Sakura thought hopefully while taking a sip of _pumpkin juice_, a very peculiar tasting beverage. In the end, Sakura decided it wasn't something she was going to drink on a daily basis. After the main dishes were done, all the plates magically cleared themselves and dessert appeared.

_"I still can't get used to this._"

* * *

"What school did you transfer from?" the girl known as Hermione Granger asked Sai. A bunch of others that sat near them seemed to be curious about that too. Good thing Sai was well rehearsed.

"Konoha Academy." he replied, a fake smile plastered to his face.

"Konoha Academy? I've never heard of it. What country is it in?" Hermione asked again, a slight frown on her lips. She was obviously displeased with herself that she didn't know every other magic school out there. Thankfully, someone saved Sai from having to answer Hermione's tirade of questions. Dumbledore had stood up again to give his speech to the students.

Sai paid close attention to his speech in case Dumbledore had made any coded instructions for him and Sakura. He also kept a tab on Harry and his friend's reactions to the speech. Something Dumbledore said was evidently troubling them as he watched them exchange looks with each other. Sai had noticed from before that through-out the feast, the trio looked as though they had been expecting someone or something to appear. His observations later confirmed his suspicions, as he also noticed the large gap at the staff table. Before Dumbledore had gotten any further with his speech, a short toad-like woman interrupted him; introduced earlier as Professor Umbridge.

_Flashback_

_"Before you leave, I want you two to be very cautious around a certain person. She will be filling the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. Dolores Umbridge works for the Ministry of Magic, and if she suspects anything out of the ordinary, she will do everything in her power to eliminate it. So she mustn't get wind that you two are ninjas." Dumbledore warned. Sai and Sakura nodded firmly._

_End Flashback_

At first glance, Sai already had a dislike for the woman. Her girly _hem hem_'s were irritating.

He looked over to Sakura and the two exchanged knowing looks.

_"I didn't know someone could resemble so much like Naruto's toad summons." _Sai thought idly, paying loose attention to Umbridge's boring speech, but understanding the message behind it.

_The Ministry of Magic will be interfering with Hogwarts this year._

_To be continued..._

* * *

Oh oh, now the real fun begins! Reviews are loved and make me very happy. So please review! :)_  
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